Bloody footprint at Murdaugh murder scene was not from either victim, witness says

Alex Murdaugh’s defense team started the second week of the trial attempting to undercut the processing of the crime scene where Murdaugh’s wife and son were murdered, planting seeds of doubt about whether the state’s case around that evidence is ultimately reliable.

Defense attorney Dick Harpootlian on Monday used the state’s witness called to verify crime scene evidence to try to establish that responding deputies from Colleton County could have inadvertently contaminated the crime scene.

Harpootlian got State Law Enforcement Division analyst Melinda Worley to admit they identified one footprint found inside the dog kennels where Paul was shot was made by one of the first responders, not either of the victims, to the scene.

”One was not from Paul, not from the perpetrator but from an investigator,” Harpootlian underlined for the jury. “Walking through the scene in the dark increases the chances some trace evidence was disturbed or destroyed.”

Worley maintained in her testimony that the scene was well-documented by SLED experts who were called out to the scene late on the evening Paul and Maggie Murdaugh’s bodies were discovered.

But she admitted first responders had not initially identified and documented some footprints on the scene, and that it is not “best practice” for deputies to walk over a crime scene. She said she was unaware of some prints at the scene until she saw them in photographs on June 15, a week after the killings.

Prosecutor Savanna Goude said the footprints seen in the photos may have been made by investigators after Paul’s body had been processed and removed by SLED investigators. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, whose office is handling Murdaugh’s prosecution, could be seen sitting in the courtroom behind the prosecution table Monday morning.

Based on different angles law enforcement say the shooter fired from — identified through examination of bullet holes in the kennel wall and a nearby dog house — Harpootlian also suggested two shooters could’ve been present. Worley pointed out another explanation could be the shooter simply moved between shots.

Harpootlian brought attention to markings seen in crime scene photos on Maggie’s calf, which he characterized as “not natural” and a possible foot impression. Worley disputed that assertion.

“I don’t know that a better photograph could have given better results,” Worley said. “I know enough that we would not have been able to say what footwear it was. I don’t even know that it was footwear.”

But investigators did not document the markings at the scene, and Worley said it would have been better to get a scale photograph for further examination.

Cataloging the evidence

Court adjourned last Friday with SLED analyst Worley cataloging the evidence collected at the crime scene the night Maggie and Paul were shot to death, June 7, 2021. The laborious process is meant to verify for the court that each photo or piece of physical evidence really originated from the Murdaugh family’s country estate, and that Worley either handled or at least saw the items at the time.

The process also shows just how much physical evidence investigators collected over the night of June 7-8, 2021 — photos of footprints and bullet holes, clothes and sneakers, shotgun shells and DNA swabs. Worley’s testimony took up most of Friday afternoon and she returned to the stand to continue to admit more evidence against Murdaugh on Monday.

The significance of all the evidence is yet unclear. Worley’s role on the stand so far has just been to get the state’s evidence admitted by Judge Clifton Newman, but she also established her expertise on analyzing footwear and tire treads, two areas of contention in the case so far.

Witnesses in the first week of the trial discussed footprints found at the scene. The state made the case last week that a footprint that was seen trailing through the dog kennel were Paul was shot was identified with the sandals Maggie was wearing at the time.

Worley also said investigators at the scene were able to examine tire tracks to and from the dog kennels on the large Moselle estate. Harpootlian suggested last week evidence of a vehicle used by Paul and Maggie’s killer may have been damaged or overlooked at the scene.

Investigators who testified last week said Murdaugh’s demeanor changed noticeably as they examined tire treads in the grass.

“(He) began to watch us work more closely, sometimes out of the corner of his eye,” Capt. Jason Chapman with the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office testified Thursday. “After we moved away from the tires the demeanor changed, turned back to upset.”

The defense made the case Murdaugh’s behavior meant “that he thought you had some evidence to point toward the killer and killers?” Harpootlian said at the time.

Murdaugh remains on trial at the Colleton County Courthouse for the murder of his wife and son. Worley was the ninth witness called so far by the prosecution.

This story was originally published January 30, 2023 at 11:00 AM.

Bristow Marchant

The State

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Bristow Marchant covers local government, schools and community in Lexington County for The State. He graduated from the College of Charleston in 2007. He has almost 20 years of experience covering South Carolina at the Clinton Chronicle, Sumter Item and Rock Hill Herald. He joined The State in 2016. Bristow has won numerous awards, most recently the S.C. Press Association’s 2024 education reporting award.  Support my work with a digital subscription